Foster
Compassion
Welcome!
You're here because you're curious, and want to build compassion in your community. This is a no-pressure zone, designed to help you simply learn how to #fostercompassion. We're glad you're here.
Finding ways to see your community through a more compassionate lens can be a powerful way to create ripple effects throughout your community. Stigma thrives in silence, and foster care is not talked about nearly enough. YOU can help break that stigma by simply learning. This is a great place to start!
Want to learn more about foster care specifically? Head over to our About Fostering page to learn some of the basics. Then, tell your friends and family what you learned!
How You Can Foster Compassion in Your Community
Donate your small talk
Encourage your friends and family to learn more about foster care and being trauma-informed!
Try on a trauma-informed lens
Notice how your world looks difference when you stay curious about what might be going on in the worlds of others. Is that person in line ahead of you irritable because they’re just like that? Or did something happen that is affecting their mood?
Support youth in foster care directly
- Donate to a community organization supporting families involved in foster care
- Volunteer to work with at-risk youth and/or youth in foster care
Think about becoming a respite provider or resource parent, now or in the future
What is Best for Kids in Foster Care?
If nothing else, we hope everyone in our community can understand the basic needs that youth in foster care have. This lets community members better advocate for kiddos in foster care, and can be a great starting point for breaking down stigma.
So, without further ado… Kids in foster care are just that: KIDS! They need the same things every kid needs to thrive, including:
- Expressions of love and affection
- Routine and structure in the home
- Rewards and consequences
- Emotional and behavioral management techniques
- Access to resources and support (for kids in foster care this can look
- like therapy, visits with family members, etc.)
- Supervision and care
- Extracurricular activities
- A community (that’s you!) that supports them and is rooting for their
- success
In particular, kids in foster care need:
- Loving, patient caregivers committed to helping them heal and grow
- Access to their existing connections and communities
- Access to communities and supports that reflect their identities
- Unconditional love and care
- Attachment-based and trauma-informed parenting strategies
Seneca works with resource parents and the County court system to ensure kiddos in foster care also have a chance at:
- Reunification with their parents—studies show kids do best when they can be safely reunited with their parents
- Individualized care
- Unconditional positive regard: There are no bad kids, just kids in bad circumstances
Psst: This is where YOU can help. Changing the stigma around foster care involvement, or being a mentor to a kiddo in foster care, can do wonders.
What Does “Trauma-informed” Mean?
You may have heard the term “trauma-informed” before. It sounds like technical social services jargon, but the concept is pretty simple. And when you can start looking at those around you through a trauma-informed lens, it can help build a more compassionate community.
Here’s the thing: Our life experiences matter! Trauma and hardships can shape us, both in our coping skills and in our resilience. Being trauma-informed simply means staying curious about what people have been through. This can build compassion and understanding.
Realizing some behaviors are the result of trauma can help us better see the person behind the behavior. This is true for people of all ages and life circumstances.
A trauma-informed community is one that holds space and accountability, and provides empowerment while offering curiosity and compassion.
Stay In touch
Want to do more to #fosterknowledge and #fostercommunity? Sign up for our newsletter to stay in the know about what’s going on with Seneca as we work to support families right here in your community. We will send you ways to get involved, stories that will warm your heart, and information about upcoming events. What could be better than supporting kiddos right here in SLO?
